Intel chief says Ukraine’s naval drones down two, not one, Russian Su-30s

This was reported to The War Zone by the HUR chief, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that this is the world’s first case where a fighter was shot down by a naval drone, and the first case where an AIM-9 missile was launched from a drone to intercept the jet.

“This is a historic moment,” Budanov said.

According to the top spy, the engagement took place over the Black Sea on Friday, May 2. The HUR used three Magura-7 unmanned sea boats for the attack, two of which engaged at the Russian aircraft.

Budanov explained that the Magura-7 is a variant of the Magura-5 designed for air defense, but did not provide additional details.

The head of the HUR emphasized that the crew of the first Su-30 survived the attack and was picked up from the cold waters of the Black Sea by a civilian vessel. According to tentative reports, the crew of the second attacked aircraft died, he added.

According to Budanov, the HUR began installing AIM-9s on unmanned boats as early as January. He stopped short of commenting on whether this was the first case where an air target was attacked from by these missiles. Previously, Ukrainian drones used only Soviet-designed air-to-air missiles, used as SAMs mounted on Ukrainian drone boats.

“We use a couple of models [of missiles – ed.] on our Magura-7, but the best results [come from – ed.] the AIM-9,” he noted.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the GUR previously confirmed the destruction of a Russian Su-30 combat aircraft in a missile strike launched by a Magura sea drone operated by HUR’s Group 13 unit in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and the Defense Forces.

On December 31, 2024, Ukraine used an R-73 missile fired from an uncrewed surface vessel (USV), better known as a drone boat, to down a Russian Mi-8 Hip helicopter over the Black Sea.